Afterwards, the new manager conceded he'd had a far from serene introduction to Liverpool life, with his side forced into desperate defence for long periods before England winger Downing won the game - and, in all probability, the tie, too.

"First and foremost it was a win, and that was always going to be the most important thing for us in our first competitive game," he explained.

"We are nowhere near where I want us to be at the moment in relation to fluency and charisma within the team.

"But what is important until we arrive at that time - and we have plenty of work still to do - is that we fight for the shirt, defend and play with desire and passion.

"We definitely did that.

"Really, we've not had the squad together at all so to win is incredible.

"It was a relief to come through."

John Powell

Jolly Rodgers: Liverpool's new boss was delighted with the win if not the performance

Rodgers fielded a stronger side that expected for this visit to Belarus, and it was just as well because the eastern Europeans threatened a major shock until Downing's brilliant goal on 65 minutes.

These European backwaters are always dangerous shallows for the Premier League teams forced to interrupt their pre-season preparations, and the Reds were almost shipwrecked before their ship really set sail, as Gomel produced enough to have put the tie beyond reach.

Indeed, barely a minute before the opening goal, the home side should have scored when Sergei Kozeka smashed a shot against the post, and top scorer Dmitry Platanov inexplicably rolled the return wide of an open goal.

John Powell

700 and won: Carragher captained Liverpool on a milestone night for him

Downing responded in ruthless fashion to that shocking miss by destroying Gomel's hopes when he stepped inside from the right and unleashed a ferocious left foot shot that flew past the stunned home keeper.

It was just about Liverpool's first shot in anger, and offered the Belarussians a harsh lesson in the importance of finishing in European competition.

Jamie Carragher was given the armband to mark his 700th Reds appearance, despite the surprise presence of Steven Gerrard in the side to face Gomel, and the defender had to work hard on his big night.

Getty

Hellarus: Gerrard and Liverpool had to scrap for their win in Gomel

For the first hour, the visitors were exclusively on the back foot, with Carragher producing a captain's performance to keep Gomel at bay, that had his manager exclaiming: "Look at Jamie Carragher - 700 games yet he played like it was his first one, incredible."

Mind you, for all his efforts Gomel still should have scored, with the usually deadly Platanov missing a hat-trick of simple chances, and his strike partner Alumona spurning even more, the worst of which was a tame shot at keeper Brad Jones when he should have scored.

John Powell

Back of the net: A Liverpool effort goes just wide

Carragher denied the same striker a simple tap in with a brilliant clearance on the stroke of half-time, and either side of the interval even Liverpool will wonder how they didn't trail.

But every bit as much as dollars, goals are the currency that speaks in this part of the world, and it was Downing who showed how to finish, to leave Rodgers content, if not entirely satisfied.

The exhausting trip to Belarus seems to have generated more interest off the pitch than on it, with attention focused on those players who didn't travel to Gomel.

Andy Carroll was left out of the squad despite originally being named in the party to surely signal the end of his Anfield career, and a similar fate now seems likely for Daniel Agger, given his omission.

Per Steffensen, the player's agent, immediately stoked the fires of speculation over his future by insisting the defender was not injured for the Europa League game, and added:

"He's not injured at all, I can't tell you why he isn't in the squad, only the club or the manager can. I can tell you he's not asked for a transfer - that's nonsense. Daniel is happy at Liverpool."

John Powell

Agger-don't: The absence of the Liverpool defender fuelled transfer talk

Yet, according to Rodgers, there is a simple explanation for the absence of the Denmark international, after he failed to train during much of the pre-season tour of North America.

"The plan was always for Daniel to stay behind. Everyone knows his history of injuries, he came back to pre-season after everyone else and is still not up to speed," he said.

"He is fit, but I have to make sure he is up to speed before he plays, because everyone knows his history with injuries."

While the new manager rates Agger's obvious qualities, the centre-half has a checkered injury record and a decent fee that would allow the purchase of a couple of replacements may be seen as beneficial to all parties.